Eggs Florentine

Eggs Florentine makes the perfect breakfast when you are banting or following one of the other ketogenic food-plans; they all aim to be very low in carbohydrate but high in fat.

With time you will craft it to your own family's taste; a sprig of thyme, cloves of garlic and chili, for example. Basically it is an egg poached on spinach.

This page was last updated by Bernard Preston on 9th February, 2023.

Homocysteine is a highly toxic breakdown product of animal protein metabolism; it is normally immediately reconstituted in the body into benign, non-poisonous forms.

However this process is totally dependent on several vitamins and zinc found in abundance in Eggs Florentine; if not in your food there is a buildup of this toxic amino-acid.

It causes serious destruction of the inner lining of capillaries, known as the intima; and consequently a host of blood-circulation diseases.

Enjoy your eggs on pan-fried toast for an extra treat but regular is fine.

If you have Eggs Florentine regularly you will gradually develop your own tastes. For example, I enjoy mine in a bowl with extra juice but the good wife likes hers on dry toast. I want my yolks still runny with the whites only just firm but she cooks her share for two minutes longer.

The cream is an optional extra but you could just dribble olive-oil over your meal; or neither. One small point to bear in mind is that the important phytonutrients are better absorbed with a little extra fat. And in any case it's refined carbs that make us obese rather than too much butter; the white toast.

I consider our decision to enjoy only bread made from 100% flour one of the biggest step-ups to wellness we have ever made. Turn it into sourdough, and you have a double winner; it takes only five minutes every morning to prepare the mixture.

Sourdough bread is a wonder; you'll never go back to the commercial loaf.

Homocysteine

Vitamins B6 and B12

Homocysteine is a toxic break-down product of protein metabolism; it is immediately degraded but the chemical process requires certain vitamins and minerals.

Vitamin B12 is often seriously deficient in the food of vegans; B6 is in short supply in those who won't eat their greens. The solution is spinach and eggs making certain you have adequate levels of these important nutrients. You do not mess with Pernicious Anemia; it is terminal.

A build-up of homocysteine in the blood has a fearful effect on the heart, great vessels and brain^[1].

• Homocysteine cardiovascular
  

Eggs Florentine poached on a bed of spinach is a good part of the solution.

Why and how, you may well ask? Eggs were previously considered part of the problem with cardiovascular disease; and certainly not the solution.

Researchers have found that homocysteine is not broken down unless very adequate amounts of the B complex vitamins, magnesium and zinc are present in our food.

Enter spinach, eggs and wholemeal bread which are rich in these vitamins; and butter or cream such that the so-important phytonutrients like lutein and beta-carotene found in Eggs Florentine are absorbed.

Zinc is plentiful in red meat, eggs and legumes; and shellfish too.

So this is how we often do it.

Chop up half an onion and fry it lightly in butter; add any herbs and spices you like. I often toss in a little fresh-turmeric, a few slithers of chili and perhaps half a tomato; that helps prevent prostate disease. Every man shall eat them daily; or perish from the most common malignant tumour.

The easiest way to provide fresh spicy condiments for your Eggs Florentine and other dishes, is to freeze them; how to preserve jalapeno peppers and chilies. It is dead easy and quick.

Blood pressure

Cut out the stalks if the leaves are large, thick and mature. Incidentally, how to grow spinach is one my three top easy vegetables from what's potting in the garden.

Here's another thought about your spinach. Dark-green leafy vegetables have proven ability to lower blood pressure if eaten daily; and the active ingredient is found most richly in the stalk. Do not devein the leaves if they are young.

Pour in a few tablespoons of boiling-water to the pot, to your taste, drop in the rinsed spinach leaves and turn it up on high; cook the greens hard for a few minutes.

I like mine slushy, so I add extra water.

Then drop your eggs directly onto the spinach, and poach them in the steam to your taste. Turn off the heat and put the lid back on. I like them soft, but she who must be obeyed demands that hers is firm.

Peel your clove of garlic, chop in roughly and scoop it onto the spinach just before adding the eggs; or at the beginning with the onion if it gives you heartburn.

The phytochemical allicin is richly found in the onion-family.

Butter your toast thickly, never use margarine, partly because it tastes so awful but more importantly because we should avoid all trans-fats like the plague; they are bad stuff.

Specifically these vitamins are necessary to prevent a build-up of homocysteine.

Riboflavin, pyridoxine and folate are found in whole-grains and your greens.

B12 and choline are in the eggs.

• What is potting in the garden
  
• Growing coriander
• Allicin benefits
  

Ladle lavish portions of your spinach onto the buttered-toast, including some of the cooking water. It contains a third of the magnesium; give a quick squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and cover with your poached egg.

Salt and pepper, and tuck in whilst it's piping-hot.

Poached eggs on spinach

Spinach is full of phytosterols and is the richest source of magnesium, a vital mineral in the body, especially if you want to avoid chronic arthritis.

Now you know how to cook spinach and make Eggs-Florentine. That wasn't difficult, eh? Good food, made fast is our theme.

If you find it dull then a sprinkle of fresh coriander will do the trick; after parsley it is the world's most popular herb.

If you have a tiny spot in the garden you'll find that growing-coriander is a cinch; it comes up like a weed.

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Even if your cholesterol is raised, even seriously high, Eggs Florentine is unlikely to be a problem, despite the saturated fat in eggs and butter. The fibre in spinach, the phytosterols and the rich source of B-vitamins all lower the LDLs; the garlic, fresh lemon and wholewheat toast too.

Perhaps just avoid the butter, and use olive oil instead if you are anxious. Are eggs good or bad is a question that has bedeviled scientists for decades. No meal eaten with hydrogenated-fat as in margarine can be recommended.

 Copy and paste "what are phytosterols" into Site Search for more information.

Macular degeneration

Eggs Florentine is the perfect way to prevent age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly; and almost entirely preventable.

Eggs and spinach are amongst the richest sources of two carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin, that are found in the greatest concentration in the macula of the eye; they absorbe damaging high-energy radiation.

Read more at lutein benefit but the short answer is that those who regular enjoy their greens, and especially kale, spinach and eggs are far less likely to get macular degeneration and cataracts.

A lemon tree in every garden is a must

Freshly-squeezed lemon juice is vital for so many dishes. Just look at the Mediterranean recipes and you'll find three quarters of them call for it. In any case, such a pretty tree, and the scent is divine when they are in flower. You could even add a few drops onto your eggs Florentine.

• Growing lemon trees
  
• Lime nutrition.
  

My brother has convinced me that the lime is even nicer than a lemon.

Could I stomach being a limey? Our first fruit is nearly ripe after only two-years. I'm a great Meyer lemon fan, so that lime had better be good.

Fresh spinach

It's one of my three easiest vegetables to raise; and how to grow spinach is one of the high-ranking pages at this Bernard Preston site.

Radish and pole-beans are the other two. Just prepare some ground, drop in the seeds and water; God gives the growth. You'll have fresh spinach every day for months.

• Growing and cooking green beans
  
• How to grow radishes
  

This spinach may look rather untidy, so if you want it in your front garden you'd need to prune off the yellowing and any mildewed leaves; so easy and rewarding.

Too many cooks

Too many cooks may spoil the broth but they certainly sometimes may improve Eggs Florentine; I had an early-patient so having started the fried onion, I left and Helen took over. Today she added sprigs of thyme and rosemary and a few broad-beans. Perhaps it was just the change, but it was spectacularly delicious.

This led to the development of what we now call Eggs Hilton.

Six-months ago we started reading up on how to plant broad beans because of acquaintances with Parkinson's disease; now we drop a few into many dishes. They are the richest source of vegetable protein after soyas.

Minimally-processed plant-protein like broad beans, peas or lentils should daily be on the menu.

Banting

Banting is the low-carbohydrate, high fat, way; it is an option when trying to lose weight.

Diets in general leave me stone-cold; research shows that less than 2% of people actually have lost any pounds twelve months later, and some are actually heavier. Most of these plans simply aren't sustainable; and many are spectacularly toxic.

A possible exception is banting, though I don't recommend that either. But low carb coupled with more fat does work; and what is more you do not feel famished all day.

So, what's the problem with banting?

In the classical keto food plans you have to go off virtually all carbohydrates, including legumes; even the proven healthy ones. In order to get sufficient protein you have to eat more red-meat, cheese and eggs; fish and fowl too.

You will lose weight when banting; your blood pressure will come down and your sugar control will improve if you are diabetic. So you are less likely to die of cardiovascular disease but a lot more likely to get a neoplasm. Instead of the sudden death from a heart-attack, you should anticipate the long, slow and lingering misery of a prostate or breast tumour, say.

If you seriously do need to lose weight then I do recommend these modified Banting meals^[4]. It means eschewing all refined carbs but peas and beans are encouraged; they work and are sustainable. You will be enjoying lunches with plenty of organic green food, brightly coloured salads and this homemade authentic hummus recipe.

And even a little low GI carbohydrate from corn on the cob or half a slice of artisan bread; not both. 

Blood glucose and eggs Florentine

Are you still concerned about the effect of Eggs Florentine on your blood-glucose? You needn't be, and certainly not if you are reasonably active.

I am pre-diabetic with blood glucose reaching 9 (162 mg/dl) if I overindulge on starches, especially those that are refined.

Here are my readings when I enjoy Eggs Florentine on our low GI toast. It is made with 100% wholemeal-bread but it could be quite different from a commercial loaf; test yourself.

• I took a short 10-minute walk between the 30 and 60 minute readings.
• I was busy gardening between 60 and 120 minutes.
  

The only conclusion I can come to is that Eggs Florentine on wholewheat toast has little effect on blood glucose despite the starch in the bread, provided one is reasonably active. Test yourself if you are pre-diabetic and have to sit at a computer; or in the car after breakfast.

Using a continuous glucose monitor for a month is a good option for all of us. Every four minutes they send a measure of your blood glucose to your cellphone via blue tooth.

Low-carb breakfast

Scientists have shown that a low-carb breakfast with extra fat, focused around eggs, would improve blood glucose control for the whole day^[5].

That's a perfect match with Eggs Florentine.

The control breakfast was a standard low-fat meal with no eggs; and high carbs. Typically they enjoyed a muffin or cereal.

Both contained about 450 kcal.

Low-carb lunch

Half a slice of bread, a small chunk of corn on the cob and the hummus altogether contain around 20g of carbs; excellent.

Useful links

1. Homocysteine levels and carotid artery stenosis
   
2. Butter is back
   
3. Making a compost pile is essential for good spinach.
4. Modified Banting diet. Web: https://tinyurl.com/2p85hj56
5. Low-Carb Breakfast Key to Lower Glucose Variability in T2D?

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